The present invention relates generally to an adjustable air discharge register for a heating, ventilating or air conditioning system, with the discharge register being movable in at least two adjustment directions for purposes of selectively directing air flow. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward a one-piece adjustable discharge register that is especially adapted and well-suited for interior applications in land, marine or air-borne vehicles.
Adjustable air discharge registers are well-known in automobile or other vehicle interior components for directing heated or cooled outlet air into desired areas in order to enhance the comfort of the vehicle occupants. Such registers typically include a number of fixed vanes oriented in a generally parallel relationship with one another, with the entire discharge register being pivotally movable so that the vanes can deflect the air flow in a first adjustment direction. A number of louvers are pivotally mounted in a generally parallel relationship with one another and are movable independently of the remainder of the discharge register in order to selectively deflect the airflow in a second adjustment that is transverse to the first discharge direction.
The pivotal movement and adjustment of the louvers are controlled by the operator by grasping and moving either a sliding control knob or a rotary control knob. A linkage member is pivotally attached to the group of louvers in order to cause them to move in unison, in a parallel relationship with one another.
Typically, the components of prior art adjustable discharge registers are inordinately cumbersome and expensive to manufacture and assemble due to the requirement of a large number of manually-accomplished steps in the assembly process, frequently with as many as eighty pick-position-place operations frequently being required to assemble one discharge register unit. It is possible for the assembly process to be at least partially automated. But this requires very complex and costly equipment that must be specifically tailored for each discharge register design. Frequently such equipment is useable for only a relatively short time before model changeovers, requiring expensive reconfiguring or retooling for the equipment to be usable in the assembly of another discharge register design. In some instances, such equipment and tooling conversions to suit different designs is commercially impractical, and new equipment or tooling must be purchased. In addition, the reliability of such specialized equipment and machinery has usually proved to be low due to frequent jamming, dogging, or other failures, thus further contributing to the cost of the products.
These and other disadvantages of currently adjustable discharge registers stem largely from the fact that they are made up of such a large number of separate parts, with many of the parts being substantially different from one another, and thus not interchangeable, due to factors such as the product asymmetry that is necessary in order to assure proper orientation during installation in a vehicle interior panel. In addition, the manufacture of individual adjustable discharge register components typically involves injection molding of plastic components in expensive multiple-cavity molds wherein the molded parts are connected by runner trees. Thus, after expulsion from the mold, each part must be cut or snapped from the runner trees prior to their insertion into the above-discussed automated assembly equipment, or before being manually assembled into the finished product. Thus the cost of purchasing and maintaining such complex molds, and the resultant expense of multi-step automated or manual handling the molded products also contributes to the inordinately high cost of making and assembling current, prior art adjustable discharge registers.
Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, the disadvantages discussed above in connection with multiple-piece adjustable discharge registers are sought to be overcome by providing a one-piece adjustable air discharge register having all of its multitudinous components integrally formed in a single mold with movable cavity walls, and with the various components interconnected for movement, either in use or during a simple one-step assembly process, by way of a number of living hinges interconnecting the various components. By way of such a construction, the one-piece adjustable discharge register can be easily and quickly assembled, with all parts being assured of proper alignments and orientations, but without the expense of a multitude of different molds, without an inordinate number of manually-accomplished operations, and without the need for expensive and largely unreliable, uniquely-specialized, automated equipment.
An exemplary one-piece adjustable air discharge register according to the present invention is of a generally clamshell-type of construction having a number of air-directing vanes formed integrally therein with the discharge register being adapted for pivotal mounting in an air discharge opening for a first selective adjustment of the flow of discharge air in a first adjustment direction. The discharge register also has a number of pivotally movable air-directing louvers formed integrally therein for a second selective adjustment of discharge airflow in a second adjustment direction transverse to, and independent of, the first adjustment direction. The one-piece discharge register includes an integral frame portion for supporting the movable louvers, with a number of living hinges being integrally formed with the frame portion and the movable louvers, in order to allow the louvers to be pivotally moved relative to the frame portion. Preferably, an integral link member is pivotally interconnected with the louvers by way of yet another set of living hinge members integrally formed between the link member and louvers, with the link member maintaining louvers in a generally parallel relationship relative to one another and causing them to move in unison throughout selective adjustable movement of the louvers relative to the frame portion and the rest of the discharge register.
In the preferred, exemplary embodiments of the present invention that are illustrated and discussed herein, two groups of the air-directing vanes are interconnected with one another at each end by end caps, in a generally clamshell-type configuration, thus defining a pair of vane-and-end cap assemblies on each side of the above-mentioned frame portion. Still another set of integrally-formed living hinges interconnect the vane-and-end cap assemblies and the frame portion, thus allowing for hinged pivotal movement of the vane-and-end cap assemblies generally toward each other and inwardly toward the frame portion until they meet and can be snapped together and retained in their final use position.
Thus, by way of such a construction, the production of an adjustable air discharge register according to the present invention is reduced to the molding of a single, one-piece component, and the assembly to the final, use configuration is reduced to a quick and simple, one-step process requiring no expensive or specialized equipment.
If deemed necessary in a particular application of the present invention, a friction clutch feature is included, preferably being located on one or more of the fixed vanes in order to releasably maintain the pivotally movable louvers in any of a number of preselected adjusted positions by frictionally engaging the louver control knob or other member, which can be either a slidable, laterally-movable control member or a pivotal, rotary control member.